Betrayal Is Something To Be Expected

Betrayal is a part of life. It can be in the form dishonesty, gossips, the breaking of promises, scams, fraudulent activities, etc.

Betrayal also happens in nature.

Examples of betrayals hapenning in nature:

• For wolf packs, primate groups, and most social animals, the subordinate members may sometimes betray their leader by conspiring with others to overthrow them, thereby disrupting the established social order.
• After laying eggs, a female bird (depending on the species) might abandon one male to take care of the offspring alone while she continues to mate with other males, effectively betraying the initial male’s parental investment.
• In meerkat colonies, subordinate females sometimes kill the pups of the dominant female to increase their own offspring's survival chances, as resources are limited.
• etc.

And in the spiritual realm, many people betray God everyday by doing vices.

We can also betray ourselves by sabotaging ourselves from achieving our personal goals.

Live long enough, and you are bound to be betrayed, its simply statistics. You can't prevent this phenomenon from happenning, but you can plan for it.

What can we do about it?

The first thing that we must do is to accept the act of betrayal as an inevitable phenomenon. See it as something that is just part of life, something that simply exists like nature.

With that being said, here are some ways to fight against potential and recent betrayals.

How do we position ourselves advantageously?

We can do this by first imagining scenarios where you are vulnerible at getting betrayed, then either plan a way to counter if such a thing would happen or plan and execute ways to prevent these scenarios from ever happening.

This is the simplest and most effective countermeasure against potential betrayals.

Sometimes, however, there will be times where we cannot think of a plan to counter or prevent such scenarios from happening. If that ever happens to you, then rely on other tactics that are mentioned in this blog post.

Do a quick background check on the person or group you are surrendering your trust to. The purpose of this is to get insight into what habits the person has when it comes to making decisions in specific situations.

Look for situations or events from the person's or group's past that consist of betrayal. If betrayal has occurred, then chances are they will betray you if given the incentive.

There's also a possibility that people "accidentally" betray you; this happens quite frequently, especially in relationships (professional or personal) that did not establish their expectations early on.

An example of this would be when a friend shares a personal secret with another, thinking it’s understood to be confidential. The second friend, not realizing the expectation of privacy, casually mentions it to others, causing unintended harm.

Encouraging open communication offers two main benefits: Hidden information (now unhidden) and the feeling of being safe of secure of all involved parties in the relationship (personal or professional).

The only way to nurture a kind of environment where open communication feels safe is to be vulnerable yourself (preferably leaders or people with influence encourage this type of environment).

Pay attention to the consistency between words and actions. If there are inconsistencies, then step back and ponder if you have ever been or are currently being deceived or manipulated.

By forgiving them, you forfiet any kinds of act of vengence which will not only protect you from the dangers of pursuing such activities, but also build your reputation as a forgiving person.

Dangers of vengeance:

• Hidden costs: Pursuing vengeance tend to have a price you have not considered (tunnel vissioned).
• Risk of irrationality: Your planning and decision-making will be badly affected if you have vengeance in your mind, which will increase the likelihood of you losing more.
• Vengeful Reputation: This can be a good or bad thing. Regardless, you will be known as someone who is vengeful.
• Time and resource: This is part of the hidden costs; how far are you willing to invest in your vengeance? What will you gain if you succeeded? Is this the best option for investing your time and money?

Forgiveness is something you don't seldom expect when you have done something wrong to a person. Being forgiven, if you are not heartless, will make you feel like you owe the person. You can use this forgiveness as a weapon.